Having shipped its generic Siebel 7 CRM (customer relationship management) and e-business platform in November, Siebel Systems Inc. this month plans to ship 20 versions of the software tailored to specific vertical industries.
The San Mateo, Calif.-based company will release applications for industries such as energy, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, finance, and telecommunications. Products will feature Siebel’s new Smart Web Architecture, which provides a thin client Web interface for interacting with the applications.
“The point of [the new release] was to pre-build industry-specific functionality into our applications to reduce the cost and the time required for our customers to deploy these applications and allow them to get to market more quickly,” said Dan Ford, general manager of Siebel’s communications and media business unit, which is overseeing the development of telecommunications-related vertical applications.
In the telecommunications space, Siebel plans to ship eCommunicatons Wireline 7, for wired network telecommunications companies, eCommunications Wireless 7, for wireless providers and eMedia 7, intended for cable companies, publishers, and entertainment companies. With these products, companies will able to validate and capture quotes for communications products and services. Service-order validation and integration with major ERP (enterprise resource planning) platforms is also featured.
Other vertical applications planned for release based on Siebel 7 include retail banking and brokerage, insurance, healthcare, clinical, medical products, automotive, chemicals, high technology, consumer goods, and retail. Applications for travel and transportation, apparel and footware, and public sector are also due to ship.